Ukraine in 1999

Originally published in the Britannica Book of the Year. Presented as archival content. Learn more.

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The year 1999 proved to be a significant one for Ukraine, with a divisive presidential election, the death of a charismatic opposition leader, and the flight abroad of a former prime minister. The major event of the year was the presidential elections of October 31 and November 14. In the first round, 13 candidates ran for election, but only 4 received more than 10% of the vote: incumbent Pres. Leonid Kuchma (36.49%), Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko (22.24%), Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz (11.2%), and Progressive Socialist Nataliya Vitrenko (10.97%). In the bitterly contested runoff, Kuchma defeated Symonenko, winning 56.31% to 37.76%. Kuchma received his highest support in western and central Ukraine, whereas Symonenko led in eastern Ukraine. Some observers maintained that the elections did not meet democratic standards, particularly in view of the tight government control over the media.

The Ukrainian Popular Movement (Rukh), the formerly prominent opposition party, was officially divided in mid-February. Vyacheslav Chornovil was removed as leader for allegedly having taken actions without consultation with the membership. Rukh split into two branches, with the new faction led by Yury Kostenko. On March 25 Chornovil was killed in a car crash near Kiev, and a week later former foreign minister Hennady Udovenko took over his section of Rukh. Both Kostenko and Udovenko participated in the presidential elections, but they received a combined total of only 3.4%.

Meanwhile, former prime minister and prominent businessman Pavlo Lazarenko was detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on February 19 while seeking entry into the United States on an invalid visa; he applied for asylum in the United States. The Ukrainian prosecutor general had issued a warrant for his arrest after the Supreme Council stripped him of parliamentary immunity earlier in the month.

Ukraine’s possible associate membership in the European Union was discussed in July, but little progress was made. A major problem was the continuing operation of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Earlier that same month German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder visited Kiev and announced that his government had postponed a decision on the financing of two new reactors at the Khmelnytsky and Rivne stations. Ukraine protested that this delay was in violation of the 1995 agreement signed by the Group of Seven countries with Ukraine. In late August the state Energoatom agency announced that Ukraine was likely to miss the 2000 deadline for the closure of Chernobyl (agreed to at the same meeting) because of the urgent need for electricity during the coming winter. Ukraine’s membership in the Council of Europe was also suspended because of its poor human rights record. The Council had long demanded that Ukraine abolish the death penalty.

The country’s economy continued to struggle. On May 1 the foreign debt totaled $12.4 billion (half of which was owed to the International Monetary Fund, Russia, and the World Bank). In mid-October it was reported that Ukraine’s gross domestic product had shrunk by 1.7% compared with the same period in 1998, while over the same period the government had managed to repay only 5% of its $524 million pension and wage arrears. As a result, more than half of Ukrainian coal mines ceased deliveries on October 1, and mine workers began a seven-day protest to demand the payment of wage arrears. The miners’ actions echoed those of nuclear plant workers earlier in the year. The hryvnia, Ukraine’s currency, dipped to an all-time low of 5.1 to the dollar in early November, though it recovered somewhat after the reelection of Kuchma.

Ukraine continued to be a magnet for illegal immigrants, many from Asian countries en route to Central and Western Europe. According to the State Border Guards Committee, there were about 60,000 illegal immigrants in Ukraine in July. Paradoxically, the population continued to decline at an alarming rate. The State Statistics Committee reported in July that the population had fallen from 52,040,000 at the end of 1991 to 49,890,000 on July 1, 1999. The decline was a consequence of declining birthrates, a higher death rate, and a relatively high rate of infant mortality.